Writer/director Adam Leon shows the joys of adolescence in Gimme The Loot'

With “Gimme The Loot,” writer/director Adam Leon has crafted a movie that doubles as a cinematic valentine to New York City. But it was during his tenure in Philadelphia that Leon first fell in love with many of the movies that inspired his directorial debut.

The University of Pennsylvania graduate can still remember the joy of discovering via the school’s DVD library both the freewheeling Bob Hope/Bing Crosby road movies and the wry comedies of Ernst Lubitsch. “When I was at Penn, I would take out a different DVD every night and I really worked my way through the classic movies,” says Leon. “I suddenly realized, ‘Gee, Hollywood made films in the ’30s and ’40s that were wonderful and hilarious and not just old, black and white movies.’”

While “Gimme The Loot” is far from a comedy, it does take a light-hearted approach to the plight of two cash-poor Bronx teenagers Sofia (Tashiana Washington) and Malcolm (Ty Hickson). The high-schoolers are desperate for $500 so they can pay off a security guard at Citi Field and spray-paint their names on the New York Mets’ home-run apple.

As the teens try and find the money over the course of two long, hot summer days, they get mugged, contemplate a robbery and have run-ins with rival taggers.

“Gimme The Loot” might be set on the mean streets of the Bronx, but it was always Leon’s intention to explore the joys of adolescence rather than the perils of it.

“When you watch movies like ‘Superbad’ or ‘American Graffiti’ or ‘Dazed and Confused,’ it’s about suburban kids getting into all kinds of trouble, like stealing a keg or running from the cops. And it’s all fun and games.

“But movies about urban teenagers are so bleak and raw. I never wanted to sell out my characters and their day-to-day existence, but I thought there was a story to be told about inner city kids where they’re just kids who get into some trouble and fall in love. They’re a little goofy and a little moody, just like everybody is when they’re teenagers.”

Since its film festival run, “Gimme The Loot” has garnered a good deal of acclaim. It was a Grand Jury Prize winner at last year’s SXSW Film Festival and netted Leon a Someone To Watch award from The Independent Spirit Awards.

Film Comment’s Max Nelson praised Leon’s “fastidious, compassionate eye for behavior” while A.O Scott of The New York Times hailed the film as “loose and rambunctious.”

Shot guerilla-style for a mere $200,000, “Gimme The Loot” was filmed all over New York City, including parts of the Bronx rarely seen onscreen these days.

“TV shows shoot in the Bronx but it’s usually to say, ’Look at this! It’s the worst place in the world!’ The Bronx is the toughest and poorest borough so there is some truth to that,” says Leon, a New York native. “But it’s also filled with vibrant, active neighborhoods.

“Even in Manhattan, we wanted to show a New York where there’s lots of electricity and grittiness. Friends of mine say, ‘New York has been turned into a mall.’ And I say, ‘That’s because you’re going to the mall parts.’ I love New York and wanted to show the areas of the city that haven’t been seen.”

In some ways, “Gimme The Loot” is a road movie without cars. The central couple travels around on foot, getting into all kinds of trouble and having encounters with strange and varied characters, including a career thief and a rich college student.

“I looked at a lot of road movies before I started the film,” says Leon, who also names the indie classic “The Little Thief” and the Bill Cosby comedy “Uptown Saturday Night” as inspirations.

“I wanted `Gimme the Loot’ to be an adventure movie, but I wanted to use things that were incredibly authentic from the language to the locations. It’s a fun night out at the movies but you’ll find yourself in a world that has a little more edge to it.”

One of the most refreshing aspects of “Gimme The Loot” is the richness of the relationship between Sofia and Malcolm. Their bond, which sometimes seems like a romance, doesn’t lead where you think it might lead.

“I wanted to explore this relationship between and a teenage boy and a teenage girl who really do love each other and are each other’s nets and support systems. But it’s not sexual,” says Leon, 31. “Usually when you’re that age, and you’re dating someone, you’re usually not dating that same person in a couple of months.

“But this relationship is a bit more substantial. Sure, there’s some tension between them, but deeper than that, they also have a trust, a real bond, a real love.”

Leon credits “Star Wars” with sparking his obsession with movies. He was 4 or 5 years old when he first saw the sci-fi masterpiece. For months afterwards he’d put himself to sleep at night thinking of plots for additional adventures involving Han Solo, Luke Skywalker and Princess Leia.

Even at a very young age, Leon imagined himself a writer and director.

“I realized that filmmaking was a job and it was a job I wanted to do, and one that I’d probably be very good at,” he said. “I’m not sure why that instinct hit me so early, but it did.”

After discovering Terrence Malick’s masterpiece “Days of Heaven,” Leon became even more film-obsessed.

“It just sort of upped my interest in filmmaking,” says the director. “I thought, ‘I have to do this. I have to be a filmmaker.’”

With the help of his stepmom — powerhouse publicist Leslee Dart — Leon landed an internship with Woody Allen. As a production assistant, Leon worked on set minding the actors and then later observed Allen edit “Hollywood Ending.”

“It was a real thrill being so close to Woody Allen, watching him make a movie,” says Leon. “I learned so many lessons about how to move a film along. He was so focused on making the movie work for an audience.”

At the moment, Leon is developing a pilot for HBO and also shopping his second film around Hollywood. While he has no specific plans to shoot a movie in Philly, he says one of his future ambitions is to do for the City of Brotherly Love with “Gimme The Loot” does for the Big Apple.

“I fell in love with Philly when I was there,” he says. “I loved exploring the city, going downtown, walking around Old City and Rittenhouse Square. It’s so beautiful. I loved Jim’s Steaks (on South Street) and Sugar Mom’s Bar.

“I’d love to shoot there because it is so interesting architecturally. It’s also a big city but it doesn’t have the sprawl of L.A. or Dallas. It’s not a skyscraper city either like Chicago. When I’m in Chicago, the downtown feels just like a business district.

“Philly has this historical element to it and it’s full of so many wonderful neighborhoods and they all have a different looks and feels to them. That to me is very cinematic. Philly is one of my favorite cities in the world.”